Reflecting on your own Leadership journey, you can probably look back and see that there have been different seasons. Maybe it didn’t start with cheeseburgers the way mine did, but I, too, can see that my service leadership journey has unfolded in three distinct seasons. 

Season One: McDonald’s Port Macquarie 
This was my initiation into the world of customers and crew; a world of systems, structure, and checklists. I saw service through the lens of process: “If you follow the steps, you’ll get the outcome.” I was trained to be fast, efficient, and always ready. It was black and white. Everything had a standard. In many ways, I started to see the world through checklists. 

Season Two: Stadiums and major events. (Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Australian Open, Wembley National Stadium & Emirates Stadium, UK)  
Suddenly, I was part of something massive. Thousands of team members. Millions of customers. The game was scaled and sped up. We had to deliver consistency; everywhere, every time. It was exhilarating and intense. The energy of these first two seasons was deeply masculine, not in terms of gender, but in terms of frequency: logical, analytical, structured, and relentlessly focused on outcomes. 

Season Three: Founder and CEO of ServiceQ and conscious Service Leadership
Over the past 13 years, I’ve shifted toward the feminine frequency of leadership. It’s been about people, not just customers, but those serving them. It’s been about purpose, presence, values, energy, and the ripple effect we create through how we show up. This season has taught me that service is a human act; it always was. I just couldn’t see it before. 

It’s easy to think of these seasons as separate, as checklists versus connection. But they’re not opposites. Service leadership is not either/or. It’s an and. To lead now, we need both.  

We need to know how to balance efficiency with empathy.  

Systems with soul.  

Masculine with feminine.  

Because at the end of the day, it’s always been about people. 

It just took me three seasons to truly understand that.